Football
Nick Judd, Transfer writer 4y

Lacazette 3/10, Luiz 5/10 as Arsenal crash out of the Europa League

It was a Greek tragedy at the Emirates stadium, as Olympiakos shocked Arsenal at the end of extra time to win 2-1 on the night and advance via away goals to the Europa League's last 16. It was Youssef El Arabi who bundled home the winner in injury time during the second half of extra time, to knock Arsenal out of the competition and spark absolute scenes in the away end.

It is Arsenal's first defeat of 2020, who thought they had won it when a moment of magic from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave them a 2-1 lead in extra time. The Gabon striker scored with an acrobatic overhead kick, his 20th goal of the season, and later had a gilt-edged chance to win it after Olympiakos had scored, inexplicably missing from inside the 6-yard box after a fortunate bounce landed the ball at his feet.

Imposing defender Pape Abou Cisse nodded the visitors ahead on the night with a powerful header in the 63rd minute, and though Arsenal had chances to win it in normal time, they were too static and slow to move the ball and ultimately were punished for it.

Positives

Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka both impressed. Pepe was the brightest attacking presence and looked dangerous with the ball at his feet. Saka was a constant menace on the left, but he just didn't see enough of the ball.

Negatives

Mikel Arteta will be frustrated by Arsenal's lack of tempo. There was a lack of movement, too, while the Gunners were wasteful in possession. Again, Olympiakos exposed their vulnerability from set pieces and were allowed to grow into the game. They switched off at the death when they needed to keep it tight.

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- Arteta fielded his strongest side and his most attacking formation, but Arsenal simply never got going. They enjoyed the best of the first half but created little, and while fans expected a fast start in the second half, they didn't get it. He probably could and should have introduced Gabriel Martinelli earlier to try and inject some pace into a lacklustre attack, but the introduction of Lucas Torreira did at least end the visitors' attacking threat towards the end.

Player ratings (1-10, 10 = best; players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Bernd Leno, 5 -- Leno was a bystander in the first half, his first "save" was from a tame daisy-cutter five minutes before the break. He could do little about the first Olympiakos goal, but he saved well at full stretch from a curling goal-bound effort. He made a mistake with his feet that resulted in the corner ahead of Olympiakos' decider.

DF Hector Bellerin, 4 -- Bellerin showed good attacking intent at times. He made a good run from his own half in the first 10 minutes, though later in the half he left his defence exposed, leaving Olympiakos with a shooting opportunity. He was substituted as he tired.

DF Shkodran Mustafi, 7 -- Mustafi has been in fine form recently and was again solid at the back, doing well to block a shot by throwing his body in front of the ball on the half-hour mark. He also made a crucial block at the death, picking up a knock for his troubles.

DF David Luiz, 5 -- A quiet game for the Brazilian. His highlight was a nifty turn on 22 minutes which drew warm applause from the Emirates crowd. He did well to cover when Bellerin was exposed, but the Brazilian was then guilty of not picking up Cisse's run -- after he'd left Ozil for dead -- for the visitors' opener and then failed to deal with the cross that resulted in the winner.

DF Bukayo Saka, 6 -- Saka had a quiet start but on one occasion in the first half tracked back well to thwart an Olympiakos attack. He rarely gave the ball away, and he thought he'd added his 11th assist in 11 games when he crossed perfectly across the face of goal for Lacazette to finish from close range, only for the goal to be disallowed.

MF Dani Ceballos, 5 -- Pulled the strings from deep in midfield, but found the final ball elusive. In the second half he could do little to prevent Olympiakos from growing into the game and was substituted.

MF Granit Xhaka, 5 -- A typically tenacious performance from Xhaka, who was walking the tightrope of being one yellow card away from missing the next game. His passing was often wasteful, but his incisive and perfectly weighted through ball set Saka free to cross for the goal that was disallowed.

MF Mesut Ozil, 5 -- Ozil had only played 30 mins in this competition this season before tonight, and while his flicks and passing brought some quality to Arsenal's attack, he did little to influence the game until his cross for Aubameyang's finish. At the other end, he was guilty of letting Cisse run past him to head home the opener.

MF Nicolas Pepe, 7 -- A threat on the right all game, Pepe's quick feet and trickery were a constant menace. He was brought down on the edge of the area by Ousseynou Ba when through on goal on 20 minutes and hit the subsequent free kick over the bar. In the second half he had the beating of his markers on several occasions and came close with a shot on 75 minutes.

MF Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 5 -- Aubameyang was largely anonymous for long spells and couldn't quite seem to be able to get into the game. He moved closer to Lacazette in the second half to try and get more involved, and it was his moment of brilliance, the aforementioned overhead kick, that should have sealed Arsenal's progression. His subsequent miss in the dying seconds after Olympiakos had retaken the lead will keep him awake tonight.

FW Alexandre Lacazette, 3 -- The lone striker had a quiet game, though he thought he'd opened the scoring before the break, only for his close-range effort to be ruled offside. He lashed wildly from the edge of the area with 10 minutes remaining, in what was an under-par performance from the Frenchman.

Substitutes

DF Sokratis Papastathopoulos, N/R -- Came on for the injured Mustafi in extra-time.

MF Joe Willock, 4 -- He had played every minute of every game in this competition before tonight, and he came on to replace Bellerin late on. Looked dangerous at times.

MF Lucas Torreira, 6 -- Back in the squad after a heavy cold and after a 15-minute cameo against Everton at the weekend, he came on with 18 minutes of normal time remaining. His introduction stemmed the tide of attacks, and at the other end he had a shot saved by Jose Sa in the last 10 minutes.

FW Gabriel Martinelli, N/R -- The youngster injected some much-needed pace and excitement into the side, and it was his presence at the near post that saw Ozil's cross find Aubameyang. He should have come on earlier.

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